The Role of the German Mother Tongue for the Acquisition of Grammatical Structures of English

Focusing on the grammatical contrasts between German and English, this seminar paper investigates how these differences lead to common errors in tenses, aspect, and relative pronouns/clauses. It posits that while language contrasts are a significant source of mistakes, other factors like age, exposure duration, language aptitude, and motivation also play a crucial role in language acquisition and error frequency. The research is grounded in linguistic studies and aims to enhance understanding of language learning challenges.